NON ENGINE RELATED FAULTS AND SERVICING
CONTENTS:
For engine problems please see L series faults
1) CHECKING THE THROTTLE POSITION SENSOR FOR FULL TRAVEL.
Its obvious that if pushing the accelerator to the floor does not cause the TPS to reach maximum travel, the ecu isn't going to receive a request for 100% of the available torque. My second 45, had a lot of free play in the drive by wire throttle cable which is easily adjusted.
The cable adjuster can be seen on the left hand side of the TPS bracket.
Pull it out of its slot, and screw it towards the end to take up any free play.
There should only be a little free play with the pedal up.
When the pedal is fully down, the quadrant should be up against its end stop - its just under the heatshield bracket.
The lever with the second cable attached is for my ZT50 cruise control.
The throttle position sensor can also fail (rare) resulting in limp home mode - this saga is covered eleswhere! (£150)
Loss
of performance due to an out of spec maf can sometimes be temporarily improved
by cleaning the maf.Once you've got the correct size security Torx bit (from Maplin or Machine Mart), the MAF can be removed.
You need to use a solvent which does not leave a residue - such as isopropyl alcohol (tape head cleaner) and possibly cotton buds.
The sensor element is very fragile - do NOT apply any pressure to it. Ideally use aerosol solvent and an airline or can of air duster to 'non-contact' clean it.
Also clean the electrical contacts.
The box shows the air entry - this is where care is needed when cleaning the MAF.
ABS reluctor ring on the outboard CV joint. A crack in this causes the ABS to start clicking as though its working even though you've not touched the brakes. Mainly occurs at low speeds when the signal is lowest and tapping the pedal usually stops it. Needs a new CV joint - they're not cheap (£150+)
Heater fan dropper resistor pack. The lowest speed resistor burns out. The whole unit can be accessed by removing the glovebox - 2 screws either end of the bottom edge. Then locate the multi plug to the heater. (see photo below) There are 2 philips screws holding the oblong plate which holds this connector and the resistors are on the underside - in the air flow to cool them. Repair or replace. (£20?)
g) REPLACING OR CLEANING THE POLLEN FILTER.
The
photo shows the location of the pollen filter. The horizontal steel bar has to
be removed - 2bolts at each end.
Then it just slides out. I vacuumed it as it wasn't too dirty on my 45k mile 45.
Also shown in the upper left section of the photo, is the heater dropper assembly.
Back to top
h) RADIO STEERING WHEEL REMOTE PROBLEMS.